Smokey Phi Phi Thai Street Barbecue at The Railway Cheltenham

I think it's fair to say that Cheltenham's not short of a watering hole or two. There are pubs and bars aplenty, with cafes and coffee shops even offering some booze options now. But what about the food? Many places just seem to serve your average pub grub; there'll be claims of being the best burger in town (it's not), and most dishes come with chips (I'll let them have that - we all love chips). Essentially it's inexpensive (though not always value for money) stodge to soak up the few-too-many post-work pints. Or, if you're lucky, you might find somewhere with stone baked pizzas, 'cause that's a thing now.

The places which stand out are those which play it a little differently, and The Railway was one such place. A lovely pub, a little off the beaten track, down the lower end of the High Street… Behind Waitrose, darling! For years it had been known for it's Sausage Kitchen where you could choose from a variety of sausages, different mashes and a selection of gravies. They even did a sausage roast dinner on a Sunday, kind of like having pigs in blankets - sans blankets - all rear round.

Recently they made the decision to change. I was shocked, as were many, because they had their USP and they were doing it well. That's all we ask for. But then I though to myself, when was the last time that I actually went to The Railway for food?... Quite a few years ago it would seem... Bingo. We all knew it was there, we all knew what to expect, we all knew it was good, but at the same time we're all guilty of chasing the new, exciting places popping up elsewhere in town. Is this why they decided to shake things up a little? Most likely.

The Railway's new venture is Smokey Phi Phi's Thai Street Barbecue. Quite similar to The Vine that does stonkingly good Thai classics on the cheap (I'm guessing they're linked), but here we have hot, smoky, fragrant Thai street food. Think lots of finger foods, with dips and sauces galore, bigger sharing dishes and numerous sides. As with most small plate places, things come out of the kitchen as and when they're ready; it's all about sharing and eating the food when it's at its best.

Last month a whole host of local bloggers were invited to try some of the new dishes from Smokey Phi Phi's kitchen. The menu changes daily though, so what we had that night might not be what you'll be able to get on your visit - and you should visit!

Small plates (£2-6) included rice paper rolls packed full of fresh herbs, veg, noodles and tofu, with a sesame soy dipping sauce. Charred and smoked vegetables (they use applewood and oak), which whilst lovely, were covered in a super spicy sauce that was too hot for most people on our table. Little nuggets of crispy pork belly with chilli sauce, gone in seconds, and chilli chicken wings. Yeah, yeah, everyone has chicken wings on their menu now, but these aren't the Americanised Buffalo kind; they're sweet and salty thanks to that Thai fave, fish sauce. A good contender for best wings in town. The standout for me though was the grilled sriraja prawns with chilli and lime dip. Messy business peeling off those blackened shells, but oh man.

Whilst we all got carried away grazing at the small dishes, the large plates (up to £15) are not to be ignored. Smoked marinated pork shoulder steak, which was juicy enough on its own, but came with a tangy tamarind dipping sauce that made it even better. The whole crispy sea bass with an eastern herb salad looked awesome, but was surprisingly my least favourite. Crispy skin - tick - but the fish was a little over cooked with not enough sauce or salad to remedy it. Some tweaking and the bass will be back in the game.  

The smoked sirloin with lemongrass and chilli salad was breath-taking, literally. There's some serious spice in that one, but with such fresh, clean flavours coating every strip of steak I couldn't leave it alone. A dish to blow away the cobwebs *mops brow*. The winner of the night was without question the smoked pork belly rendang. A big piece of pork belly, which you have to portion up yourselves - crackling n'all - in a soul-soothing coconut based sauce. Not as punchy in the heat department, but rich, aromatic and oh so good.  Parcels of sticky rice and bowls of coconut rice were a good accompaniment - sides are £2-5 - but the rotis were where it's at. Perfect for scooping up the leftover rending sauce.

With no Thai Green Curry or Pad Thai in sight, The Railway has found its new niche. The food is interesting, and daily menu changes will keep it from going stale. I can see Smokey Phi Phi's Thai Street Barbecue being a hit... What sausages anyway?

A Taste of Worcester: The Crown Inn, Hallow

It's a rare occasion that I'll venture out of Gloucestershire for dinner (unless it's a jaunt to London or Bristol of course). You'd think I suffered with homesickness counting the number of times I've crossed the borders, but trust me that's not the case. A) I can barely keep up with all the latest openings in the town I bloody live in, and B) I really like wine. Sadly, as much as wine and food go together hand in hand, wine and driving do not. Sigh.

Last month I was invited along to The Crown Inn in Hallow, Worcestershire, to try some of the new dishes from the new menu, created by new Head Chef Chris Monk. All the 'new's. I'd met Chris back when I worked behind the scenes at Le Champignon Sauvage - still one of the best things I've ever done - and having left the Michelin Star kitchen behind him, he's taken on quite a different role here in Hallow.

Admittedly, I'd never heard about The Crown Inn before my invitation; I guess why would I? But now that Chris has taken the reigns in the food department, it's time to take note. The gorgeous pub had a renovation earlier in the year, with new branding to match, and the focus is firmly on putting the highest quality seasonal fare on your plate. Pub grub traditionalists needn't worry too much about the change though, although there'll be plenty of fancy flairs, you'll still be able to grab a decent burger, fish and chips or a Sunday roast.

There was a special 5 course tasting menu on the night of our visit, crazily priced at £29.95 with an optional wine pairing at an extra £20 per person. Bingo. I drew the designated driver short straw, so just had a few sips of each wine, leaving The Chap double parked all evening.

We started with a glass of fizz alongside freshly baked focaccia (£3.50 on current menu - I'll include prices where applicable). Rosemary and sea salt would usually suffice, but when the bread's warm and there's creamy whipped butter at hand, slathering it on is the only option.

An amuse bouche of caramelised onion mousse with crispy chicken skin arrived at the table. The salty-savoury flavours were balanced by a sweet Sauternes jelly, and although caramelised onion isn't usually my thing, this was lovely. The Chap reckons he could happily have a bag of chicken skin 'crisps'... I don't doubt him. Actually, I'd probably join him.

There were two options for each course, so we did the usual thing of ordering one of each so we could try everything. My starter was truffled guinea fowl terrine with pickled mushrooms and roasted garlic. The light gamey flavour was pimped up with garlic, though it was the pickled mushrooms that totally made it. Some extra texture would've been welcomed, not just a scattering of pine nuts, but perhaps that's just me. This was paired with a Louis Latour White Burgundy Chardonnay, 2015. Just yes.

The Chap had scorched mackerel, beetroot and goats curd (£6.95); pretty large for a starter with a good amount of everything on the plate. Although the fish was beautifully cooked, it was sat on two big dollops of a beetroot-chutney-sort-of-thing, which felt rather overpowering. Less is more on this occasion. A 2016 Picpoul de Pinet was the match here; a classic fish friendly wine and happily guzzled down.

Confit escalope of sea reared trout, samphire, peas and fine herbs was my main course. It was a nice surprise to find giant bows of pasta in the dish, and they went so well with the silky confit trout. Greens kept each mouthful feeling fresh, and the citrusy sauce gave everything a bit of oomph. Oh so delicious, and possibly my favourite of the night. I had another Chardonnay to accompany this course (they clearly heard that I LOVE Chardonnays), but this time from Australia (Grant Burge 2016). More tropical fruit and less acidity than the French; I'm more of a Burgundy gal.

The Chap's dish felt comforting and gloriously autumnal. Ale braised beef cheek, smoked potatoes and charred onions. Again, quite a large plate in comparison to mine, but wowzas. So rich, dark and tender. The smoked potatoes were more like cylindrical croquettes, fluffy on the inside with a crisp chip-like casing. The perfect swooshing vessel to soak up every last drop of the ale sauce. A Beaujolais Villages (Louis Jadot 2016) came with this - maybe little too light - beef cheeks can definitely stand up to a fuller bodied wine.

A lemon curd and lime granita palate cleanser was next. It so reminded us of those Calippo Ice Shots we used to have when we were kids. Probably not the intention, but still...

There were absolutely no arguments over who would have which dessert. I'm not a soufflé lover, and The Chap hates coffee (I know - weird), so the dark chocolate tart with coffeé cream and mandarin was firmly on my side of the table. Great, because I didn't want to share anyway. The chocolate to pastry ratio was a chocaholics dream; so seductively shiny and not sickly sweet. I wasn't too sure how I felt about coffee and orange together, but it just worked, especially with the glass of orange blossom-y Floralis Moscatel I had.

The Bramley apple soufflé with salted caramel ice cream (£6.95) was a beast! Despite my differences, I did try a little, if only to help The Chap try and reach the bottom. I could just get that sweet baked apple flavour, but as showy as they may be, hot mousse-y eggs are not my bag. Hey ho. The salted caramel ice cream was just as tasty as it sounds, as was the Sauternes wine pairing; he was happy.

The evening finished with tea, coffee and glossy brown canelés; a little taste of Bordeaux before heading home. Though not before meeting Pershore Patty - you can read her review of the evening here.

All in all, I thought it was a great night showcasing Head Chef Chris Monk's skills in the kitchen to customers old and new. With the large portion sizes, I'd say it felt more like a three course meal with added extras rather than a tasting menu. That's fine, tasting menus aren't what they do; starter, main, dessert, and job done.

The glimmers of fine dining were there in the cooking techniques, the presentation, the fact that we had an amuse bouche, and so on. I just hope that they stay and flourish rather than changing to suit "Dave from down the road, who comes in every Wednesday for pie and mash". That said, I'm pretty sure Chris can make a really mean pie. I shouldn't worry, The Crown Inn is an awesome place and I'll be sure to visit again soon.

Set Lunch Menu at The White Spoon

Well then, a lot has changed since my last post at the start of May - hence the radio silence. Not only do I have myself some extra bling, but I also have a new surname too (though we'll stick with Simpson on here). Yep, The Chap and I got married, and we've done some serious celebrating; aka eating (a lot) and drinking (a lot) in various places around the country. It's the only way we know how.

Anyway, now that our feet are firmly back on the ground, and there's no more wedmin to take up all our evenings, it's time to rejoin the local foodie loop. And what better way to start than an invitation to The White Spoon for a Cotswolds Bloggers event!

I've written about The White Spoon before; we had a wonderful dinner there not long after it had opened, and we still talk about that blackened beef. Though admittedly not quite as much as we talk about The Chap's incident with a razor clam at the launch party. He'll never live that one down (there was crunching involved).

I've been back since, having a suitably boozy a la carte lunch there a few months ago, but this was the first time trying their set lunch menu, albeit on a Friday night. There's a new Front of House, who gives us just as warm a welcome and shows us to our seats. It seemed a little odd that our bloggers group were split up into two separate tables, but hey ho.

Our options were simple; two courses, two options for each, job done. Naturally, The Chap and I had one of each so that all bases were covered, and with our orders in, out came a carafe of house white (£3 per glass with the set menu) and The White Spoon's signature plant pot bread with Applewood smoked butter. It's a £2 supplement, but always order the bread; there's a reason it hasn't changed since day one.

Kelmscott pork chop with peas and broad beans was my choice for mains. There's something so comforting about a simple chop paired with other simple seasonal ingredients, in this case double podded broad beans and peas folded through a pea purée. For once there was no trickery in the cheffy shorthand menu, and sometimes that's all that you want. Excellent.

In contrast, The Chap's dish of goats cheese ravioli with pickled beetroot was a total surprise. One large ravioli packed with tangy cheese sat atop some slices of red and golden beetroot - yep, got this - with some wilted greens - yep, still with you - and covered with pickled beetroot foam... Say what? I don't think anyone was expecting it, but that magenta foam not only looked incredible but tasted it too; an instant hit of pickled beetroot as if by magic.  

We were given a side of crushed swede and black pepper and some mind boggling aerated mash (£3.50 supplement each). In its fancy copper pan, it looked like the lump-less mash you'd usually see in a restaurant, but it really was so light that it was like eating a potato cloud. A new one for me. Both were a good accompaniment to the pork, the ravioli not so much, though it didn't stop anyone diving in.

The first dessert was lemon parfait and meringue. Blowtorched Italian meringue, crisp meringue shards and biscuit crumbs offered a range of textures, whilst the zingy parfait was the star of the show. A pick-me-up rather than an overindulgence, and perfect in this kind of weather. 

The other, banana cake with ginger ice cream. Not the dense sickly sweet cake that is so often the case, but a super fluffy sponge topped with banana purée and caramelised banana slices. That's the thing about Chris White's cooking here at The White Spoon; he shies away from overly rich and heavy dishes, adopting a 'lighter' style of cooking which "showcases the diversity of ways in which ingredients can be prepared and enjoyed." And with their second birthday on the horizon, it's clearly working for them.

We finished the evening with Bristol Twenty coffee and petit fours. A decent cup of coffee, a bite size brownie, biscotti and marshmallow, for just a £3 supplement? I've spent more than that on a single espresso before, so you'd be a fool not to.

The White Spoon's set menu is a steal at £12 for two courses, or three for £15, and is available Wednesday to Saturday lunchtimes as well as before 7pm on Thursdays. It changes weekly in order to capture the best seasonal ingredients, which also means you can go regularly and never get bored - hurrah!

Big thanks to Chris, Purdey and their team for hosting us Cotswolds Bloggers; it's nice to be back.

Drink, Eat & Be Social: The Bottle of Sauce Cheltenham

No doubt we're all seeing in January with various saintly resolutions… New year, new me… But let's face it, it never quite works out. If you're dry the whole of Jan, only to get hammered every weekend for the rest of the year, or eat nothing but lettuce for a month, then stuff your face full of the remaining Christmas chocs on the first of February, then really, what's the point?

Cheltenham, I say ditch the diet, especially as there are some excellent new (and old) places to eat in town, all of which need your custom at this sluggish time of year.

Looking back to November, with a flurry of foodie openings, the stakes were well and truly upped in the burger game. Not only did The Tavern reopen after its fire (more on that in another post), but we welcomed in Dodo Pub Co.'s The Bottle of Sauce - hurrah! Ok, I know we already had quite a few places for your beef fix, but variety is the spice of life, right?

Housed in what was formerly The Quaich - quiche, kwaysh, quack, however you said it - found on the corner of Ambrose and Clarence Street, The Bottle of Sauce brands itself as a 'hip new watering hole and eatery'; a place to 'drink, eat and be social'... Yup, I like all of those things. I'm in.

The place has undergone a pretty hefty refurbishment, which no doubt cost quite a few pennies, and contains all those cool-kid culprits; exposed brickwork, industrial fixtures and fittings, snazzy lighting, etc. Centre stage at the bar is the beer board, of which lists many a great beer, shining so bright in its coppery hues, there's a private dining room with a looovely long wooden table (perfect for parties), and even a games room with table tennis and table football. But wait, there's more. There's a large outside space lit with zig-zagged festoon lighting, no doubt this'll be heaving come summer, and a 'canteen' dining area in what used to be the pubs old skittle alley. You'll find the kitchen in here, which is semi-open so you can peek through to see what's going on, and when everyone's full of food, there's a DJ booth to see you into the early hours, dancing shoes or not.

The general gist; Bottle of Sauce offers various booths, tables, high stools, benches and surprisingly armchairs by the fireplace to sit at, so even Goldilocks would be able to find somewhere that was 'just right' in here.

Foodwise they serve dirty burgers, filthy fries, Neapolitan pizzas, sticky wings and souped up salads (though no one really wants the salad do they?). And having been invited along to the bloggers event with a whole host of fellow food lovers, we all took it upon ourselves to try out as much of the menu as possible.

Big hits in the burger section; Mother Clucker (kimchi buttermilk chicken, pickled red onions, napalm sauce, chipotle mayo, lettuce), The Big D (beef patty, aged cheddar, caramelised onions, Kelmscott dry cured bacon, Dodo burger mayo, lettuce), and The Al Capone (beef patty, spicy 'nduja relish, American cheese, pickled red onions, chipotle mayo, lettuce)... Basically all of them then. You can choose if you want your burger pink or well done too, something that was a bit hit and miss on the bloggers night, but having been back since has been spot on. Pink every time obvs.

I ordered the Speckenwolf pizza (no longer on the menu), with paper thin slices of smoky cured speck, mozzarella, parmesan, rocket and lemon. Delicious, but I was instantly jealous when I saw someone else's Truffle Funghi come out. I fit in another visit recently and ordered myself one - white pizza, mozzarella, portobello mushrooms, Cotswold Gold truffle oil, sorrel and shaved parmesan - and it was even better than the one I'd longingly spied. I thought the bases were a little overdone on our first visit - not a terrible offence, just new chefs getting used to their new kitchen - but now they have the perfect amount of scorched spots from the pizza oven, and the toppings were much more generous.

The consensus was that the Napalm Wings were the best of the bunch being both sweet and hot, though if you've ordered lots of other spicy things then you won't be disappointed with the Sticky BBQ Wings. And I'm almost certain there's no elegant way to eat a wing; suck it up, you're going to get messy.

Bottle of Sauce gives you a choice of three types of fries; Rosemary Salted (yet to try), Buffalo (the winner - with hot sauce and blue cheese drizzle), and Cheese n' Truffle (with melted fontina and Cotswold Gold truffle oil - not as truffley as I'd hoped; I think the pizza got the best dousing of oil). The other sides take a bit of a back seat; the Dodo Slaw, with apple, white cabbage, mint and mayo, was nice but nothing spesh, and the Mac n' Cheese seemed to be missing all the melty cheese - sigh. Hey ho, no love lost. It's not like you're stuck for choice!

If you're not in the mood for food and just fancy some drinks, then that's highly recommended too. I mentioned the beers earlier on, but there's a solid wine list, interesting spirits, and cocktails which slip down all too easily. Try them all.

So then, my advice for a Happy New Year and to beat those January blues... Hit up The Bottle of Sauce and start as you mean to go on.

50% off selected burgers every Monday / 50% off selected pizzas Tuesday - Friday lunchtimes / 15% off takeaway pizza at all times / £4.50 cocktails during afterwork drinking hours / bottomless coffees and bloody marys available with weekend brunch / gluten free buns and bases available

Feast with a Chef: Orwells Restaurant

I've clearly had my blinkers on; for some reason Clare Hargreaves' Feast with a Chef events have completely passed me by. On Saturday 1st October I found myself at my first one, despite it actually being the 16th *bangs head on the table*.

Feast with a Chef brings great food, cooked by some of the country's top chefs, to the simple, informal setting of a village hall. There's quite the lineup when you look at the list of previous chefs; Ottolenghi's head chef Ramael Scully, The Kingham Plough's Emily Watkins, the king of fish Nathan Outlaw and Le Champignon Sauvage's David Everitt-Matthias, among many more. Mostly held in Bristol, though a few dotted around elsewhere, 100 guests sit supper club-style at long tables, making it a true community event. "Fine dining without the starch."

Leaving Gloucestershire behind, The Chap and I made our way to the pretty little village of Kirtlington, just outside Oxford. Chef-owners of Orwells Restaurant - situated in Henley-on-Thames - Ryan Simpson and Liam Trotman were in charge of cooking a four-course Harvest Feast. Not only very timely as we celebrated Autumn's arrival, but Orwells had just been named The Good Food Guide's Restaurant of the Year, and Ryan had made an appearance on BBC One's Yes Chef in that week leading up to the event.

Partners both in and out of the kitchen, Ryan and Liam have quite an interesting background; they famously walked out of their previous job at the Goose at Salome (along with other members of staff) over a dispute with the then owner Paul Castle. This was just weeks after earning themselves a Michelin Star. but prompted them to pursue their own venture - hurrah! 

Six years after opening, they've not only got Restaurant of the Year under their belt, but a GFG Cooking Score of 7/10, a place in the Top 50 list, 4 AA Rosettes and a 3 Gold Star rating for sustainability, possibly their proudest achievement. Ryan and Liam have become known for their planet-friendly approach to cooking, and try to utilise all aspects of their produce in order to offer more reasonably priced menus. They follow the nose to tail philosophy, grow 75% of the restaurant's fruit and veg from their own garden and, having beehives themselves, are particularly passionate about saving our bees.

Kirtlington Village Hall was full of chatter from locals, Clare's usual pop-up fans, a few new faces (like The Chap and I), and a bunch of Orwells regular customers. Little did we know that Ryan and Liam had actually closed the restaurant to be here... On a Saturday night! Lucky us. So with a brief introduction, the chefs squeezed themselves back into the sparse kitchen they had to contend with and the Harvest Feast began.

On the table we had semi-sourdough bread, still with the gaping holes you'd expect from a sourdough - perfect crevasses for the Rodda's Cornish farmhouse butter - just without the intense tang. From nearby Bibury, we had smoked Oxfordshire trout '99'; the mini ice cream cones never fail to make me smile with their childish charm, and the salty pop of the caviar ensured our taste buds were ready for the first course.

Sleightlett cannelloni with Riverford Farm organic beetroot, fermented garlic and watercress was handsomely dressed. The creamy goats cheese, delicately flavoured with lemony nutty notes, was a fine match to the sweet earthy beetroot and was wolfed down in minutes.

Next up, crayfish and pork, with sweetcorn, apple and celeriac. An interesting combo where land meets sea; the apple complimenting the crayfish whilst at the same time cutting through the richness of the pigs cheek. I felt the crayfish was getting a bit lost at times, so perhaps a smaller piggy piece would have created more balance in the dish. But who asks for a smaller portion of pork? No one. Ever.

The main event was Wiltshire lamb (from Walter Rose & Son Butchers) with Riverford Farm brassica, squash, pearl barley and salsify. Probably one of the finest lamb dishes I've had in quite some time, it epitomised the nose to tail ethos through using the rump, breast, sweetbreads and tongue (though you wouldn't have been able to pick out the latter as it was hidden in the barley). A tasting plate of lamb, and an example of expert cooking. Every mouthful was a dream, though I definitely felt myself craving a few more greens.

Dessert saw the appearance of honey on the menu, and cued Liam to explain his love of bees and why we should be doing more to save them. To cut the story short, bees are essential in pollinating the crops that form our food, and also the wild plants that grow across the country and provide food for much of our wildlife. If our native bees die out, the very fabric of our lives will change considerably and we're likely lose a whopping third of our diet. It's for this reason Orwells have their own beehives producing their own honey, and the Mill Lane honey sponge with salted caramel ice cream and honeycomb made sure we took note. It was the lightest sponge, heaving under the weight of the ice cream, with the fragrant sweetness being met with bursts of pomegranate sourness. Beautiful.

As the kitchen cleaned down and the last few glasses of wine were drank (there was a well priced 'by the bottle' list c/o Enotria & Coe), cafetieres of Origin Coffee and pots of Tregothnan Tea made the rounds. With this, we received our final little taste of Orwells Restaurant; homemade petit fours. Zippy passion fruit jellies tried their best to impress, but the raven blackberry and custard macarons were a clear winner amongst ourselves and our fellow diners. 

Clare's got a fabulous thing going on here; I'm still kicking myself for not having come across Feast with a Chef sooner. This Harvest Feast truly felt like a celebration of wonderful produce, and if that was what chefs Ryan Simpson and Liam Trotman could do in such a tiny village hall kitchen, then I'd love to see what comes from the pass at their restaurant... So let's all go to Orwells, yeah?

The next Feast with a Chef with Michelin Starred Chris Harrod from The Whitebrook is sold out, but keep an eye out for Clare's events next year. Visit her website or follow her on Instagram @larderloutuk to stay in the loop. 

Kitchen Antics: Le Champignon Sauvage

It was 9am on a Wednesday, and whilst I'd usually be at work wishing I was anywhere else, on this Wednesday there was no place I'd rather be.

Stood at the door of Cheltenham's 2 Michelin Starred restaurant - Le Champignon Sauvage - I braced myself for a day behind the scenes, "helping" out in the kitchen.

I've been to Le Champignon Sauvage a few times before, so I was relatively familiar with David Everitt-Matthias' food and style of cooking (not that I could recreate it with such ease), and being a mid-week lunch service, the restaurant was thankfully not fully booked - phew! Oh, and whilst I'm here, despite me writing this post on their set lunch menu back in 2014, it is still the same unbelievable price of £32 for 3 courses. An offer you'd be a fool to resist. But anyway...

The team had been there a couple of hours already - no doubt making sure they were ahead of schedule in case I came in and wrecked the joint - and I was instantly made to feel welcome. Introductions made, chefs whites on, I nervously slipped into my first role prepping the roasted white chocolate mousse dessert. Given a list of ingredients and measurements, I literally cracked on (dad joke - sorry) separating an obscene number of egg yolks.

Looking round, you can see that David runs a tight ship, but the atmosphere is nowhere near like what you see on those dramatised TV chef programmes. No shouting, no swearing, it's heads down, funky tunes on and lots of singing. There's a huge amount of respect held within the team, and that alone makes it a pleasant place to be - no wonder then that David has never missed a shift in the 29 years Le Champs has been open! Having his wife Helen by his side, ensuring each customer receives a seamless friendly service, is sure to make things easier too.

With the mousse made (roasting white chocolate in a pan is a new one to me - and utterly delicious too), I used my painting skills to paint silicone dome moulds with a mix of white chocolate and freeze dried raspberries, poured in the mousse and placed them in the chiller for use the following day.

Next up was to make the rhubarb and hibiscus sorbet that accompanied the white chocolate. Cooked, blended and strained, I was told to try it to double check the sweetness. Not really knowing what it should taste like, I asked for a second opinion and Chef decided that what it needed was a pinch of salt. Instantly the flavours came together... Mind. Blown.

With that churning away in the ice cream machine, my next assignment was to tackle butchery with David. On the menu was Saddle of Cinderford Lamb, so with some guidance I learnt how to remove the meat from the bone. I can't say I did the best job - I only managed one in the time that David did two - but it was quite a satisfying task. Skinned, trimmed and the fat scored, the saddles went in to marinade with garlic, thyme and olive oil for the next day's service.

Ok, you probably won't find me doing some epic butchery in my teeny tiny kitchen any time soon, but David gave me some great tips on how to cook a saddle at home - flatten, stuff, roll, BBQ and slice. Yum. Though I might need a garden to do this too... Bugger.

Prepping canapés was the last thing before service started. I had to artfully dot the squid ink sponges with taramasalata, lay some shredded oyster leaves on top (they really do taste of oysters!), then dust each one with a tangy vinegar powder. David made sure I had one to taste, along with a blue cheese and parmesan crisp - serious snack game.

With guests arriving, the music gets turned off and the kitchen waits with anticipation. Canapes go out, checks come in, and I'm in charge of putting the gorgeous bread selection in the oven to heat up. Two guests, two of everything, one minute in... Out, into the wooden trays, over to the pass, knock on the door and cross it off… *Breathe*

At the same time I watched the guys start plating up starters - lots of squeezing sauces from bottles and precision placing with tweezers. Then, mirroring what they were doing, I got to plate up a couple of the mackerel starters myself and sent them out of the kitchen (let's hope the diners didn't notice their dishes weren't quite as good looking as usual).

After trying a spoon of the beef tartare (served with smoked mayonnaise and charred onions), David suggested I plate up the mackerel dish to eat myself - lucky! Seared mackerel, squid ink quinoa, salt and pepper squid; beautiful.

Mains were in full swing, and I loved watching David work in such a relaxed way. I think you can really see this in his food; sure there are lots of processes and components, but it's not overly-fussy or overdone. He simply aims to get the best out of every ingredient, and constantly experiments with flavours along the way (note the burnt jerusalem artichoke and liquorice purée and that Thai green curry sorbet - swoon). There's a reason Jay Rayner said his experience at Le Champignon Sauvage was one of the best meals of his life!

I was handed a pressed pigs trotter and caper galette to try - part of the pork belly dish - and who thought piggys feet could be so tasty? I'll have a plate of those with a decent glass of wine please.

We chat a fair bit about wine - it's clearly no secret that I drink a lot of it - and you'll be surprised to hear that the restaurant doesn't have a huge mark up on bottles (as is the norm for most other Michelin places). Death row dishes are another topic; I float the idea of a steak done well (definitely not a steak well done), though I know I would never be able to decide. David hasn't even nailed down an answer himself yet - and he must get asked a lot. There's favourite ice cream flavours too; I couldn't choose. However, having tried a spoonful of the chocolate Mexican mole ice cream, which went with the salted caramel mousse, I think I may have a contender.

Checks started coming in for dessert, and I watched each dish come together, helping with the final garnishes. Helen had come in with some foraged pineapple weed earlier in the morning, which we were then able to use on one of the dishes. How lovely is that?!

I ended where I began; the roasted white chocolate mousse. I'd seen the finished product go out of the kitchen, so my final task was to plate one for myself. The frozen dome was accompanied with raspberry purée, fresh raspberry pieces, (clumsy) spoons of raspberry jelly, sharp raspberry powder, basil leaves, and the rhubarb and hibiscus sorbet. I tried to do the rocher (one handed quenelle) all by myself, and I very nearly did it; it was just a bit big damnit. I'll get it right next time. After photographing my achievement, I dived in and don't think I said anything other than 'mmm' until I'd finished scraping the plate clean. The perfect ending.

There really are no words to describe how much I enjoyed my time in the kitchen at Le Champignon Sauvage. As soon as I left I had to phone The Chap to tell him all about it before I burst with excitement, then even when he got home from work that evening, he said I still had the biggest grin on my face (something that never happens with my usual 9-5 job). I'd go back again in an instant.

David Everitt-Matthias is a fantastic chef, and Le Champs truly is a fantastic restaurant. The fact that it will be celebrating its 30th anniversary next year says it all. Just wow.

Tom Kerridge “David is just true to what he believes. He’s never swayed by fashion, and he’s always updating what he does. It is one of the most phenomenal restaurants this country has, yet one of the least known.”

Heston Blumenthal "David Everitt-Matthias is the epitome of what a truly great modern chef should be. David has been quietly revolutionising modern British cooking - a gastronomic visionary whose imagination is expressed so beautifully through his cooking."